I am brewing a wheat beer and forgot to top off the carboy to 5 gallons. It probably has around 4 gal in it. It has been fermenting for 2 weeks. What are the effects going to be from not having as much water as the recipe calls for? Just a stronger beer? or will it through off other things too?
Forgot to top off the carboy to 5 gal...
- Thread starter Bo0sted2g
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Was this a kit, or your own recipe? What was the recipe?
Besides having a stronger beer, things related to hops might be off. I believe hop oils are extracted more in a lower gravity wort. Probably a couple other hop related things too, but I'm not a pro at talking about bitterness extraction, perception of bitterness, IBU:GU ratios, etc. I should leave that to someone who understands it better.
But there is a good chance that it will turn out to be good anyway, maybe just a little different than what you were hoping to get.
Besides having a stronger beer, things related to hops might be off. I believe hop oils are extracted more in a lower gravity wort. Probably a couple other hop related things too, but I'm not a pro at talking about bitterness extraction, perception of bitterness, IBU:GU ratios, etc. I should leave that to someone who understands it better.
But there is a good chance that it will turn out to be good anyway, maybe just a little different than what you were hoping to get.
flars
Well-Known Member
Go with what you have. Will be different if you have brewed this same recipe before but you may prefer this recipe short on volume over the same recipe with the full volume. Another three to four weeks you will know for sure.
I have an amber ale and brown ale I brew so there will be no more than 4.5 gallons bottled for the 5 gallon recipe.
I have an amber ale and brown ale I brew so there will be no more than 4.5 gallons bottled for the 5 gallon recipe.
eltorrente
Well-Known Member
At the very least - It'll have more body, less perceptable bitterness, and more alcohol. It should be fine, but it won't be quite what you were shooting for with the recipe. Don't even worry about it..
It will very likely be fine. I made a similar mistake once. I bottled half as it was, and half with some bottled water. I think they were both okay, but I was a wild eyed new brewer.
Let us know how it goes.
Let us know how it goes.
homebrewer_99
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Brew another batch, same recipe. After it's in the primary top it off with more water. When it's ready to bottle just blend it 50/50.
If it was a kit the brewing was done as intended so the hop character should be right. It will be a stronger beer. If you want it as intended I don't see anything wrong with adding water now. But you have to do it very carefully. I would boil and cool the water to remove oxygen then siphon very carefully so you don't get any oxidation.
For me I would leave it as is.
For me I would leave it as is.
Yeah it was a recipe kit, the abv on the original recipe was kind of low anyway so if its not going to hurt anything then I will just leave it as is and let it do its thing. Thanks for the input everyone!
When my OG was too high due to dialing in efficiency on my biab setup I ended up dryhopping some beers because I didn’t like the extra malty flavor. So if it’s too malty you can try that. Though I keg so it’s easy to drop a stainless tea ball with hops in a keg if it needs it.
